Hitachi arm buys 26% in SBI Payment Services

Hitachi Payment Services (HPSPL) will purchase a 26% stake in SBI Payment Services (SPS) by investing between Rs 1,250 crore and Rs 1,500 crore. The investment will be through a combination of subscription to new shares and purchase of SBI’s stake in the company.
In a communication to the exchanges, SBI said that HPSPL has accepted the private placement-cum-application letter. After allotment of shares, Hitachi will be a 26% shareholder in SPS. The transaction is understood to value SPS at Rs 5,000-6,000 crore.
HPSPL India was earlier Prizm Payments, which was re-branded after an acquisition by the Japanese tech giant. SBI had carved out its merchant-acquiring business into a separate entity — SPS — before inviting potential investors to pick up a stake. The merchant-acquiring business includes 5.74 lakh card-swipe machines as well as online merchants where the bank enables digital payments.
Hitachi Payments MD Loney Antony said, “This is a very synergetic deal. SBI is looking at partners that can help in increasing transactions using technology solutions. For Hitachi, it is a drive towards the services and digital model. The group is moving towards the digital payments space globally.” Antony was the founder of Prizm Payments and an industry veteran in the ATM management and payment-processing space.
According to Antony, it is not merely card-swipe machines and online payments. “Another big growth area is mobility. This includes enabling electronic toll collections and payments for transport. We see this platform as having potential to growing to the number-one digital payments platform in the country. We are more than happy to be a minority partner,” said Antony.
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